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A1 WildWatch

WildWatch provides skills training in species and habitat identification for local volunteers.

The scheme will promote wildlife recording and community engagement through a series of workshops providing ID training and survey skills for a range of key Levels’ species and habitats.

Training sessions will be delivered by SEWBReC (South East Wales Biodiversity Records Centre) staff, potentially with support from project partners, local recorders, and recording groups. Training sessions will focus on the identification of key species and habitats as identified in the Gwent Levels Nature Recovery Action Plan (GLNRAP – see below). Sessions will be supported by a resource pack available through the Living Levels (LL) website and will be held at community venues within the project area.

Participants will be encouraged to record sightings using freely available phone or web-based recording software, such as SEWBReCORD and the LERC Wales App. Records submitted on these platforms are fed into local and national databases but can be viewed in a local context.

As part of the project legacy, trained volunteers will be encouraged to join local recording groups, form new groups, contribute to local and national recording schemes, and submit occasional records.

The information gathered will be freely available to partners and the public, (via aderyn.lercwales.org.uk) and, alongside data on the Gwent Levels from other sources, will help to inform management decisions, policies, and future projects.


WildWatch

Project lead
Community Engagement Officer

Project timeline
August 2026 - August 2031

Project reference
A1

Contact
Community Engagement Officer

A4 Sound Levels

Sound Levels will engage the local community through audio recording of wildlife and natural sounds to produce soundscapes of the Gwent Levels.

Through a series of in-person and online workshops we will introduce participants to bioacoustics; how to make recordings using smart phones and specialist equipment, how to edit recordings, how to produce soundscapes, and how to apply bioacoustics to wildlife monitoring. We will encourage participants to produce their own soundscapes and contribute towards a Levels-wide soundscape that encapsulates the entire landscape. This project will be a partnership between Living Levels and Community Music Wales.

We will also use sound recorded by remote recorders to better understand the state of nature across the Gwent Levels, such as bird species present and abundance. Sound recordings will be used to monitor impact from local development (e.g. solar farms and nature friendly farming initiatives) using AI to evaluate the data collected.

Sound Levels

Project lead
Natural Heritage Officer

Project timeline
August 2026 - August 2031

Project reference
A4

Contact
Natural Heritage Officer